Wal-mart....
 

Is the Wal-mart in Laconia one of the ones being closed down?

No
 

No the walmart in Gilford/Laconia is not beingclosed. They just expanded it to a super walmart.

Not that I'm overly fond of wal-mart... I was just curious. Thank you for the reply. :)

Interesting Fact
 

Now that the front door has been moved 100 feet to the left it is in Laconia no longer in Gilford. Any issues like shoplifting have become a problem for Laconia Police instead of Gilford Police.

It probably makes no difference to anyone which town police department, Gilford or Laconia, processes their shop lifting arrest.


Here's a question ..... looking for information here ......is Wal-Mart with about 33-stores and a huge trucking distribution center in Raymond, NH.....the largest employer in N.H. with the greatest number of employees?


It seems likely the State of N.H. could have more employees than Wal-Mart , especially now that the employees of the 79 NH state liquor stores are all considered to be employees of the state, according to the I.R.S. ....but I don't a-really a-know?

Providing high quality brands of your favorite wine & spirit adult beverages since 1932 ...... at very reasonable prices ....... what our NH state government does best! And, your local state liquor store is also a great place to get empty cardboard liquor & wine boxes for free.....but you must take the fillers, too. Providing free empty cardboard boxes is not done at Wal-Mart ...... at least not at the Tilton, Plymouth, or Gilford Wal-Marts.

Believe it or not ...... I was able to build a new second floor with two bedrooms and a bathroom, atop my existing mega multi-million dollar waterfront mcmansion, constructed totally with freebie empty boxes from the state liquor store in Center Harbor ........ honest!

you are one of a kind LESS :):)

I like LESS. Nothing fake about that guy. He speaks his mind..he's laid back, and weather I agree with him or not I enjoy his posts.

The best thing about LESS...He Tweaks certain people on this forum. :) NB

You do realize that these stores generate Hundreds of Millions of dollars ... right?

The alternative is to allow this business to be moved to the private sector and let the government figure out how to siphon Hundreds of Millions of additional tax dollars from the LOCALS. No chance in hell they will reduce the budget to compensate for the loss of sales.

I just wonder why the anti-trust/monopoly laws don't apply...

I believe WM has competition.

To name a few:

Target
K-mart
Serars
Costco
BJ's
Amazon

The announcement of the closure of those stores was a huge victory for the middle-class American entrepreneur. Walmart and each and every of your listed institutions are nothing more then satellite retail locations for China and many others who produce inferior product. Sell it for a cheaper price to an audience who could care less about the future because they're struggling to keep up in the present.

I hope this is the start of a trend which will lead to the re-emergence of the mom-and-pop to serve the neighborhoods now left abandoned by Walmart.

Wal-mart...
 

That is a really good idea, baygo, but I am afraid the consuming public has become very used to mall-type shopping, or, stay-at-home and use the internet-type shopping.

The economy of scale works against the Mom and Pop store and in favor of the big boxes, except in the case of trendy niche stores which don't provide a wide enough horizon of product to meet the needs of the consuming public.

You are correct about the quality of foreign-made products not being very high, but, sadly, in today's economy, quality is a victim of the retail process.

Thank you for your comments Donald.

Well, not quite.
Out of that total number of 154 only about 18 are what we here in New Hampshire consider a Walmart.
What is closing is Walmart's attempt at the dollar stores - called Walmart Express. All 102 of the Walmart Express dollar type stores are closing.
Walmart also went into the attempted upscale grocery business called Neighborhood Market. Walmart is closing 23 Neighborhood Markets. Neighborhood Market is a stand alone grocery store.
Also closed are 7 Amigo stores owned by Walmart.
And 4 Sam's Clubs are closing.

So all is not what it appears on the surface. And none of this will really help the bygone days of shopping downtown. And none of this will provide much help these local economies. Yes, some businesses will pick up the slack. But there is very little slack available in these markets. That is why Walmart is closing these stores.

No no - I meant to say the NH State Liquor Stores.

For years I listened to NH manufacturers bemoan the loss of sales to foreign competitors while at the same time they're sourcing their own raw materials and equipment from overseas. Local merchants whine about customers buying from the "big box" national chains, yet they themselves refuse to stock merchandise produced in NH. Virtually everyone with a brick and mortar store gripes about consumers who chose to buy on-line, but just try to find any Made in USA products on those store shelves.

Somehow I find it hard to be very sympathetic. :rolleye1:

The existence of Wal-Mart is not a threat to local mom and pop businesses.

YOU, the people who shop at Wal-Mart, are.

Don't like Wal-Mart? Don't shop there.

See how that works? ;)

(I hate the place)

Got it. Upon rereading your post I see that now. :)

The foreign made products that I buy are of good quality and value. Yes there is junk to be found but I avoid it as best as I can.

My Subaru fleet seems to be holding up well. While not luxury cars, they hit the spot when it comes to value for the money.

I looked at some Hondas the other day. They were more expensive but nicer. Not as nice as my buddy's MB at four times the price but nice nontheless.

I have bought a few foreign produced items lately:

Yamaha 2.5 hp outboard
Abu Garcia fishing reels
Carhartt sweatshirts
Bluetooth iPad keyboard
Folding luggage rack
Trecking poles

As one can see, that's a pretty diverse list of foreign made goods.
I have found no quality issues with any if them.

If one wishes to avoid shopping at WallMart for any reason, that's easy.

Avoiding the purchase of foreign made goods is more difficult. :)

Sadly today if it has some sort of electrical component in it most likely some piece of that puzzle came from over seas.. I too try to avoid products like that but in reality i own a ton of foreign made products that actually work better than their American counterparts.. It's a 50/50 split for me when shopping domestic VS foreign.

Cars like you said is a perfect example, my Subarus have never had a single issue at what price like 26k. My Jeep was brought back with 4 miles on it for service and I paid almost double for it.. Wasn't happy!

Walmart started out as a mom and pop store by a simple man in Arkansas by the name of Sam Walton. His wife and his father were his business partners.

How do you like those apples? :D

Yup, He owned or managed a Ben Franklin 5-n-dime in Bentonville Arkansas.

When the hola-hoop craze arrived he ran out the first Saturday and started making them at night in his basement.

He then realized that all the other small towns in the Orzark's were in the same boat so he would make a batch one night and the next night would load them in his 12' Jon boat on his little trailer and drive over the mountains to deliver them.

The rest is History.

Sam W's story is impressive.

So is Ray Kroc's.

A difference I see is that Ray's vision for a business model created hundreds if not thousands of mom 'n pop millionairs.

Inquiring minds need to know - Did you come by the empty boxes by getting them in that condition from the state store or did you get them full of product and then when empty used them for the addition. If it was the second method, would love to see a photo of the finished product.

Obviously you have sufficient income to allow you to pay the "local" premium for goods and services charged by the locals here in the lakes region. I would love to shop locally but paying 40- 45% higher food prices locally instead of a drive to the nearest Market Basket . Or 20 cents a gallon more for gas or heating oil here in Wolfeboro but such is not the case so 90% of my consumption goes out of town.

For the person struggling to make their income stretch to cover the basics it's necessarily all about price (and that's OK ... been there a couple of times myself). For the rest of us, it's about our personal value equations, and everyone's value equations are different.

Myself, I shop at certain smaller sporting goods shops because they have knowledgeable, helpful staff and I'm willing to pay extra for that benefit. I spend some money at the local grocery store (which costs 5-10% more than the big markets, not 40-45% wherever AA lives) because I appreciate the convenience and want it to continue to be there for me. And I'm willing to pay a reasonable premium for well-made US products because some of my fellow Americans are working hard to earn a living and, in the end, we're all in this together.

I'd like to think that most of us are willing pay a fair price for those things we value. Little shops with sky-high prices, disappointing selection, and/or poor service are going to fail. That's simply survival of the fittest.

BTW, I never, ever shop at Walmart. I once worked for a company that was a Walmart supplier and I know their dirty little secret.

I spent the latter part of my career moving jobs overseas. I was lucky enough to get a retirement package that allowed me to get out when I wanted to do so. But part of what drove it was the reaction of my friends and neighbors. It was like I was a service man returning from a foreign war in 1970. I was "stealing" American jobs and moving them overseas.

Wake up people! We now live in a global economy. Many products that are "Made in USA" are made from parts that were sourced all over the globe, and the "foreign" (eg: Toyota...made in Tennessee) cars are not so much.

The places and people I visited were wonderful. I've said often that the best thing I could do for my kids is send them to India/China/etc for a month so they can see the competition. They aren't "stealing" American jobs. They are most often building a superior product for the price, that the marketplace is willing to buy. Most of the families I met overseas reminded me of the stories I heard from my great grandfather and grandfather about what it was like to be Irish/Italian/Polish/etc. in 1900's America.

It's the competition folks, and the American dream is based on working harder and smarter than the others. Except now it's global. Accept the challenge.

The good news is that in the past few years, the balance is returning and we can compete. If we are better.

I will always look to buy "American", but only if the quality is comparable, and the price is in the same reasonable ballpark. It's called capitalism. Still the best model us humans have found despite the arguments otherwise. Others may call it Darwinism.

give people a choice. Chains whether restaurants , big box stores , hotels etc fill a need that people want. To me yes I go to local stores when I want to pick up a couple of items but will go to Home Depot or market basket for a big shop. Yes that savings may allow me to go to a local restaurant:):):)

I agree with your "friends and neighbors". Why sound proud of moving jobs out of the USA? It maybe a global economy but let's try to keep the jobs here in the US!

Where did I say I was proud? I was not. I didn't like it at all. No more than those servicemen did several decades ago. It's about the perception of society. Not to mention you are assuming I was one of the key decision makers who ultimately made the call. I was not. (though given the economic realities, I may have made the same call)

In my case, it was computer support jobs. Everyone complained about having "Dave" from Bangalore answer the phone when they called for support. But the reality was that "Dave" was as good an engineer as Bob in Belmont, and cost 1/4 the price. And when they went into Best Buy to buy that laptop and had to choose between the same featured laptop from company A and company B, they always chose the cheaper one, regardless of whether the price differential was due to keeping those support jobs in the US. It's the reality of the global market. Not a lot different than NE competing with OK for corn, but on a global scale.

As I said earlier, the good news is the balance flipped quickly, and many of those jobs are now returning. The challenge continues to be to do it better, faster, and with higher quality than the competition. No different than 200 years ago, when we were "stealing" all those jobs from people in France, England, and Germany.

Also a sad reality is people in American today don't want to compete or do certain type jobs like hard working Americans made careers off of in the past. We've raised an entitled society of people who think because they are in America they are automatically worth more than someone else elsewhere.

Couldn't begin to tell you how many people I've hired in my short lifetime that have had zero desire to work let alone work hard, or even take pride in their work.

Everyone wants manufacturing brought back in America but yet people expect 35$ an hour to work on an assembly line. :laugh:

I don't know too many servicemen who didn't feel proud of their service during that time period or anytime while protecting our country.

I served during the Vietnam war/conflict and I'm proud of it.

Cars like you said is a perfect example, my Subarus have never had a single issue at what price like 26k. My Jeep was brought back with 4 miles on it for service and I paid almost double for it.. Wasn't happy![/QUOTE]

Actualy your Subaru was largely built and assembled in Layfayette Indiana and you Jeep was owned by an Italian company and mostly built in Canada and Mexico
Walmart offers better pay and benefits then the majority of mon and pop stores do , you don't really think the little Main Street shops offer insurance and the other benefits Walmart does ?
At least make an attempt at getting some facts right in these arguments

You're right Rusty. Bad analogy. It was the treatment they received that was bad.

Actualy your Subaru was largely built and assembled in Layfayette Indiana and you Jeep was owned by an Italian company and mostly built in Canada and Mexico
Walmart offers better pay and benefits then the majority of mon and pop stores do , you don't really think the little Main Street shops offer insurance and the other benefits Walmart does ?
At least make an attempt at getting some facts right in these arguments[/QUOTE]


Actually my Subaru was designed assembled and shipped from Japan not Indiana. And my jeep was assembled in Toledo Ohio.. So it's you that needs to get their facts together.

http://www.carsdirect.com/car-buying...aru-cars-built
Subaru is a car manufacturing division of a huge Japanese transportation conglomerate called Fuji Heavy Industries. Although Subaru is a Japan based company, it has expanded worldwide to produce and sell commercial vehicles in North America, Europe, Oceania, the Middle East and other parts of Asia. Not every single Subaru factory produces every single Subaru model, so the availability of different Subaru models in different areas depends on which models are produced at which factories.

The United States is one of the world's largest automobile consumers, so almost all Subaru models are manufactured there, including the Subaru Impreza, the Subaru Impreza WRX, the Subaru Legacy, the Subaru Outback, the Subaru Forester and the Subaru Tribeca. This means that these models are in plentiful supply in the United States, which, combined with the minimal shipping costs, gives residents of the United States the cheapest deals on these new Subaru models.

Check your vin number that will tell you where your Subaru was built. Regardless of what your website says the WRX and STIs are built overseas, or atleast my year model was built in Japan and shipped over here.

http://www.cars101.com/subaru/vin.html

http://www.stanleysubaru.com/blog/20...reza-built.htm

Regardless this is a Walmart thread not Subaru. And like I said I have never had a single problem with my Japanese built Subaru.

I try my best to shop local first.. I go to Moes before Lowes everytime.

BUT...

I was sourcing new appliances for my condo... the guy at Baron's could not even come close to the price at Lowes....

American manufacturing has been declining for years. Ridiculous demands and government requirements make producing consumer goods in the USA tough to do profitably.

Woodsy

Woodsy -

As mentioned in another thread (snow blowers if I recall) .... was that appliance marked or advertised as "made exclusively for Lowes" ?

If so, even though it may have been a name brand it was stripped of some of it's features to be mass produced for Lowes (or other Big Box Brand) thus Baron's could not touch it's pricing.

Those types of "investments" need to be researched well ..... with that said, the deleted features or accessories may be perfectly fine for your needs.


But for me, having a Baron's (or similar) behind the sale of a dishwasher/stove or refrigerator gives me a little more peace of mind should a problem occur than trying to squabble with Big Box store




.

Phantom....

Not marked or made for Lowes.... this was an apples to apples purchase. Unfortunately, Barons could not compete. It wasn't even close. They basically returned my quote with "No Bid" and when I talked to the guy, he said they could not touch the prices...

But I did try to stay small/local.


Woodsy

Woodsy - I can't speak specifically about Lowe's or the companies that manufactured your appliances, but if you actually believe an XYZ refrigerator sold by a major national retailer will always be identical to a similar unit sold by a local store, you're being naive.

Do you understand that a huge company like Walmart can easily represent 25% or more of a manufacturer's annual gross sales? When such a company approaches a manufacturer to buy XX,XXX (or XXX,XXX or X, XXX,XXX or more) units, those units can be, and often are, manufactured to the buyer's unique specifications. The items may appear to be the same (in fact, that's often a priority), but huge companies can demand cheaper materials, lower cost production methods, and/or looser quality control acceptance criteria . . . and the consumer won't be able to tell the difference at the point of sale.

Every household appliance (except one) that I've purchased over the past several decades has come from a small local or regional store and, as a former (now retired) corporate quality manager, I feel I've generally gotten the best value for my money. JMHO

Funny thought yesterday:

Target is Wal-Mart for hipsters...

TCC...

I was comparing specific model numbers to specific model numbers. This was a macintosh apple to macintosh apple comparison. Baron's sold (and had on their floor) the EXACT same model number fridge/stove/microwave. I totally understand that big box stores get their own spec'd appliances/TV's etc. I purposely picked these appliances because they were available at smaller retailers.

Woodsy

I must admit Woodsy -- then I am SHOCKED !

Baron's is not a small outfit, so the Big Box buying power should not have that much affect (given Apples / apples)

Sure there wasn't a leading/trailing letter hidden ?

GE# 12345 / GE#a12345 ?

.

I am telling you... I tried! :) I would have taken a close but slightly higher quote if needed....

Woodsy

Don't understand the problem with supporting big box stores like Lowes or Home Depot. They have brought a large selection of diverse products at great prices to the Lakes region. They are open 7 days a week with extended hours making it easy to deal with them . their return policies are outstanding .
From an economic standpoint they employ large numbers of local people and pay ( unlike wal mart ) competitive ,fair wages with insurance and benefits , something a lot of mom and pops wont do . why in the world would I shop at Barrons and pay more rather then one of these big box stores ?

I started to respond to this in what I thought was a fair & balanced opinion ...... there is a place for both to co-exist. Where the "local" store has typically more knowledgeable staff, their corporate income goes right back into the community, you do not need to buy 100 screws, nuts or bolts when you only need 2 ....and let me go back to you can find someone in the aisle who actually knows what their talking about...... and so on and so on. Yet the Big Box store, due to it's breath of offerings and (as you say) extended hours of operation among other factors, inevitably bankrupts the smaller local.

But I decided instead that the Forum will take care of more suitable responses to Billy Bob

Billy Bob -- understand that the Lowes in Gilford is NOT staffed & run as others around the country and their wages and mandatory control of hours worked -- actually held back in many cases--- are not much more stellar than what you purport to be against the Big Bad Walmart (trust me on that one)

This should be interesting :emb:



.

I went to our Wal-mart today specifically to get some Steakums... they were out. Wal-mart is the only place in my area (Lebanon, Oregon) to find steakums. My husband says shaved steak is easy to find back east... is this true? Will I be able to go to any grocery store to find it when we get over there?

I believe anybody around (grocery stores) have it, they do in neighboring Mass anyway. Never specifically looked in NH though.

Hannaford in Meredith has good shaved steak, that and a crusty baguette from the bakery:)

surely you jest!

I have been trying to find a crusty anything in NH sine before 1956 and other than Panera Bread and a few Manchester bakeries have yet to find a real one. And have never found a Kaiser roll. The NH bulky which explodes when opened is a joke.

My goodness, someone needs to give you a tour of NH.

I get my Baguettes at LaBoca Bakery in Wolfeboro.

Isn't that just "French" bread?

Thank you, I will try to find a time when they are open to see what they have. Every time I have driven past they have been closed either for vacation or I was too early at 9 am etc.. Never open on traditional bakery day - Sunday and the one time I did find them open, they had tons of NH bread but nothing really European or NY style. But I will try again.

If La Boca isn't open, go to Butternut. They also have crusty bread.


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Crusty Bread
 

When we are in Wolfeboro we go to Hunters IGA and get "When Pigs Fly" bread: Either "New York Rye" or "Sour Dough" It comes from Maine..It makes Excellent Toast. Like back in the old days.

Been to a diner lately for breakfast? What do you get? Soggy so called toast. (Georges in Meridith excepted.) Georges is the BEST place for breakfast in the Lakes Region..

"When Pigs Fly" bread makes Real Toast. NB

Oh Wait: Member GTO: Although infrequent...Your input is always welcome. :D

PS: I'm an old coot..I had an New '66 SS-396 back in the day. :)

Thank you for your service Rusty and welcome home buddy!